Tony Lastoria Archive

Over the next several weeks the IBI's Tony Lastoria will continue to provide year-end pieces like this for all of the Indians six minor league affiliates. With comments on 20-25 players for each team, these pieces are being broken up into two parts. In today's first part of his Mahoning Valley review, Tony had a chance to sit down with Indians Assistant Director of Player Development Carter Hawkins to get the organization’s thoughts on the performance/development of some of the position players there such as Bradley Zimmer, Francisco Mejia, Steven Patterson, Greg Allen, Taylor Murphy and more.

With the offseason here there is going to be a lot of wishing, praying, hoping and demanding for the Indians to sign certain free agents, trade certain players and try and trade for others and change the roles of some players. Such is life during the Hot Stove season, a season which will kick off in just a few weeks shortly after the conclusion of the World Series. The IBI's Tony Lastoria looks at the rampant speculation that Jason Kipnis will move off second base and explains why he will stay put at the start of the 2015 season.

This weekly feature piece here at the IBI specifically looks at some of the prospects that have maybe not had as much attention they deserve for a variety of reasons but who are interesting or are coming onto the scene. This week the IBI's Tony Lastoria takes a look at talented left-handed pitcher Thomas Pannone, an upside arm who had a nice season at rookie Arizona who could be a very interesting lefty pen option down the road or more. What kind of prospect is he? What does he throw? What kind of future does he have? Tony provides all the details...

In today’s Minor Happenings, the IBI's Tony Lastoria takes a look at the strides that shortstop Erik Gonzalez has made defensively and as a player overall and how he fits into things for the Indians long term. He also looks at the struggles that Cody Anderson went through this season, the problems that caused them and what he needs to do to correct them. In addition to that he looks at Sean Brady’s rise in the system and the next steps he needs to take to solidify his prospect status, some areas of concern with Francisco Lindor’s defense the Indians want to shore up, the emergence of Elvis Araujo as a left-handed relief option, and much more.

Over the next several weeks the IBI's Tony Lastoria will be providing year-end pieces like this for all of the Indians six minor league affiliates. With comments on 20-25 players for each team, these pieces are being broken up into two parts. In today's second part of his AZL review, Tony had a chance to sit down with Indians Assistant Director of Player Development Carter Hawkins to get the organization’s thoughts on the performance/development of some of the pitchers there such as Casey Shane, Shao-Ching Chiang, Justus Sheffield, Grant Hockin, Jared Robinson, Sam Hentges, Leandro Linares and over a dozen pitchers in total.

Over the next several weeks the IBI's Tony Lastoria will be providing year-end pieces like this for all of the Indians six minor league affiliates. With comments on 20-25 players for each team, these pieces are being broken up into two parts. In today's first part of his AZL review, Tony chance to sit down with Indians Assistant Director of Player Development Carter Hawkins to get the organization’s thoughts on the performance/development of some of the position players there such as Bobby Bradley, Yu Cheng Chang, Li-Jen Chu, Silento Sayles, Emmanuel Tapia and more.

Another season of Indians baseball came to a close on Sunday, and as has been the case the past 65 seasons it ended without a World Series championship. But while there is sadness and disappointment with the conclusion of the 2014 season, this is but the beginning to what should be a very important and busy offseason for the Indians as they look primed to be serious contenders in 2015. The IBI's Tony Lastoria shares his thoughts on the future of the team, who shined, who struggled and more.

This weekly feature piece here at the IBI specifically looks at some of the prospects that have maybe not had as much attention they deserve for a variety of reasons but who are interesting or are coming onto the scene. Last week the IBI's Tony Lastoria focused on right-handed pitcher D.J. Brown, so this week he decided to focus in on a position player, one who just happened to be Brown’s battery mate this season catcher Jeremy Lucas. What kind of prospect is he? How is his bat and defense? What kind of future does he have? Tony provides all that and more...

In today’s Minor Happenings, the IBI's Tony Lastoria takes a long look at outfielder Greg Allen and really dissects his game and the future he has as a prospect for the Indians. He also provides insights from the front office on why Lindor, Urshela and others were not called up, looks at where Joe Wendle disappointed but also shined and why he is not far off from a bounce back, and provides insights into the developments of players such as Shawn Armstrong, Carlos Moncrief, Francisco Mejia, J.P. Feyereisen, Luis DeJesus and more…

Originally born in Mexico, Rigo Beltran moved to the San Diego area at about six years old and it was there that his baseball dream started. He grew up with “Fernando Mania” as he idolized Fernando Valenzuela when he pitched for the Dodgers in the 1980s and found some success himself as a pitcher pitching 16 seasons in pro baseball from 1991-2006 before retiring to become a coach in 2007. He latched on with the Indians this past season and was the pitching coach at Low-A Lake County, and the IBI's Tony Lastoria recently had a chance to talk about his career path and love for coaching.

With a 7-1 loss to the Royals on Tuesday night, the Indians have all but officially been eliminated from the playoffs. The IBI's Tony Lastoria recaps the news for the Indians and around the league and notes how the Indians wildcard chances are critical, some GM changes around the league and more.

The Indians 2014 Fall Instructional League is underway out at their spring training and player development complex in Goodyear, Arizona. Camp runs for a little over four weeks and time will be split between on-field workouts, intra-squad games, and games between other local Major League organizations before concluding the second week of October. The IBI's Tony Lastoria gives the 411 on what Instructional League is all about...

Today marks the beginning of the final week of the regular season in baseball. With seven days of games remaining, there are still several postseason spots up for grabs and still unsettled. One of those spots is the AL Wildcard and the Indians will do their best this week to stay in the race and come out on top. The IBI's Tony Lastoria looks at the playoff outlook for the Indians, the emergence of a strong trio of lefties in the bullpen, some help needed in the right-handed setup role, Kuber's Cy Young campaign and more...

Things are getting a little tight in the AL wildcard race. While the Indians and Yankees are still longshots, they have moved closer to the Athletics, Royals and Mariners and five teams are within 5.0 games of one another as the final week of the season gets underway. The IBI's Tony Lastoria recaps all the news and notes from Sunday around the league...

This weekly feature piece here at the IBI specifically looks at some of the prospects that have maybe not had as much attention they deserve for a variety of reasons but who are interesting or are coming onto the scene. This week the IBI's Tony Lastoria takes a look at right-handed pitcher D.J. Brown, a versatile arm in High-A who can start or relieve. What kind of prospect is he? What does he throw? What kind of future does he have? Tony provides all the details...

In today's Minor Happenings, the IBI's Tony Lastoria takes a look at the astounding rise of Tony Wolters into a legit Major League catcher. He provides lots of insight into his improvements defensively and why there should not be too much focus on his offense right now. He also goes into detail about Giovanny Urshela and his rise to legitimacy in the organization, what he improved on this season and how he fits into things going forward, looks at the outfield transition for Dorssys Paulino, Bradley Zimmer's excellent approach to hitting, notes some players that are heading to winter ball, and more.

The Indians funk over the last two weeks has ruined their playoff hopes. They are still mathematically alive, but barring a miracle they are now in preparation mode for next season. Now that the season looks to be over, the immediate reaction is to look back at what went wrong and what prevented them from having the success that many wanted from them this season. The IBI's Tony Lastoria looks at who is to blame for the Indians struggles this season and he also touches on Michael Brantley's power outage in the second half, what he wants to see the rest of the way, and more.

This weekly feature piece here at the IBI specifically looks at some of the prospects that have maybe not had as much attention they deserve for a variety of reasons but who are interesting or are coming onto the scene. This week the IBI's Tony Lastoria decided to move up a few levels in the system and talk about a position player who has a high draft pedigree and has maybe not lived up to expectations but who is still interesting and has a decent shot at reaching the big leagues.

The 2014 Fall Instructional League gets underway shortly out in Goodyear, Arizona. Over a span of a month around 50 players will participate in weight training and conditioning drills, on-field instruction, and play in several games until it wraps up on Sunday October 12th. The IBI's Tony Lastoria has the details on what players are going out there and the schedule for the four week period. Be sure to follow the IBI all fall for updates on the happenings in "Instructs", the Arizona Fall League and more.

In today’s edition of Minor Happenings, the IBI's Tony Lastoria takes a look at the tremendous second half from Low-A Lake County right-handed pitcher Mitch Brown and first baseman Nellie Rodriguez. They were the big keys to the team’s second half turnaround, and he looks into their improvement not only in their performance but as prospects as well. He also provides several comments from the front office on recently called up players Jesus Aguilar, Austin Adams, Bryan Price as well as some thoughts on the rookie level AZL Indians championship season along with some interesting comments and comps on some key players there.

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!